Umbra
by Nusaka
Summary: AU The shadows that haunt the corners of the psychotic mind are perhaps the darkest side of any pale faced moon. [She is trapped. She is suffocating. She is wide awake. She doesn’t know what frightens her more.]
1. Prologue

**Umbra**

♪♪♪

There is an old journal, long since used and read, but never forgotten, that lies deep within the library of the Hyuugas. It is leather bound, a sacred seal over it with slightly yellowed pages that crinkle and makes noises when you flip through it.

In this journal are entries that have long since been read and thought of. The entries belong to a girl long ago who had received it as a reward of sort. The girl has been gone for quite some time, forgotten in the ravages of time and war.

The Hyuugas do not wish to remember her, but are forced to listen and watch her ghost haunt their children, their halls and their council members. She breathes down necks, murmurs curses against ears that listen though they do not wish to. Wide eyes that look so ghostly and ghoulish will at times stare back from mirrors that will be shattered for no reason whatsoever. Quiet and wraith like, she sweeps down the halls and screams at the council members, the heirs and current rulers of the Hyuuga clan to not make a mistake as they once had with her. She will never allow them the luxury of learning and moving on, forgetting her.

They will not have such a luxury.

They will listen, they will fear any mistake, they will remember she is one of their mistakes that turned on them; they will remember her.

She will not be forgotten.

In this journal, are the memories and the formula for calamity for a little girl who evolved and mutated in order to stay alive.

In this journal, this is a story of a girl with an unfulfilled life.

In this journal, there is the explanation of the girl who died so long ago and then was resurrected.

These are the memoirs of the living dead girl.

_This is not a dream. Please do not try any attempts to wake yourself. We apologize for the momentary delay. _

(The date and number of years ago are too smudged to make out in the corner of the journal properly)

The fire roared and the young girl huddled in a corner, voice too weak to cry out, smoke choking her in a vice like grip. She whimpered and tears ran down her cheeks. Someone would come back for her and take her from the fire, whisk her away from death.

Hinata hiccupped and cried all over again. The fire was unbearably hot, peeling her skin and she knew she looked worse than when sunburn would grace her pale skin. She cried and whimpered, but it was cut off rather abruptly.

Her door suddenly flew open and she stared up at a figure clothed in a dark cloak with red clouds.

Red hair, darker than that of the greedy fire, glinted. Eyes stared down at her and a face of a priceless doll stared back. The figure swathed in such clothes moved forth gracefully as though he were made of liquid.

The girl moved back at the apparently male figure stopped suddenly as though considering something.

He advanced and Hinata flinched, wanting to escape but finding nowhere to run. The small girl child screamed in her fear, fright in her eyes like a second coating of their unique color. A hand covered her mouth and shook her soundly, so slick, blood drip dropped off. Drip drop. Drip drop. _Save me_, she pleaded to whoever may have been listening on her thoughts. _Save me, help me, I don't want to die_.

Red hair glinted beneath the hazy smoky gaze of the roaring fire around them. The fire fed off the paper doors and walls, wooden floors of the Hyuuga household. Rust colored eyes seemed to glint at her, "Do you want to live?" he questioned, fingers were wrapped around her jaw. A thumb brushed a stray tear from her cheek, smearing red. "Do you?" there was a smile; hideous but the ill intent was too well hidden for the child of six to see.

She cried out, skinny arms flinging out to this stranger who had entered her room to save her when no one else would. Her family had left her behind to burn in the fire. He caught her when she wrapped tiny arms around his neck and cradled her gently. "Alright, alright, alright…" he pat her back gently. Wide white eyes turned to him and the red haired man smiled gently, flicking another stray tear away with well groomed fingers. "It'll be alright," rust colored eyes with tints of gold gleamed in the firelight.

Her hold around his neck tightened and she sniffled into the black coat wrapped around him.

A flicker of fire and they were gone, leaving no trace in their wake.

-

…This is a prologue, apparently as that may be I needed to make it clear. …It was a crappy start but oh well damn it. I may or may not continue since I have a short attention span and I just needed to get this out since I was listening to a good song…yess…Review if you'd like.


	2. Chapter 1

**Umbra**

♪♪♪♪

(The page here is crinkled and slightly tore with old brown reddish colored stains in droplets, it'd be best to ignore that)

_Testing, testing, testing; please do not attempt to speak or run. This is only a test…only a test. You'll just feel a slight sting_.

Hinata stared in front of her, listening to the man before her speaking in low tones. He says his name is Sasori and that they are going far away from this place she used to call 'home'. Konohagakure was no longer her home. They had abandoned her; left her to burn there while this stranger saved her when her own family hadn't even looked back.

It would be wrong of her to turn on him when he saved her.

Hinata stared at him, adoration and devotion blooming in her eyes. The red haired man was talking to another in a similar garb, blonde hair stashed on one side of his face while a pale blue eye rolled at something the other said.

She would not leave him Hinata decided; after all, one does not bite the hand that feeds them. The blonde haired man looked to her and he struck her as quite an odd looking youth before he smirked at her, disappearing before her very eyes in a flurry of a black cloak.

"Hinata," he called to her and she turned to him obediently, "we're going to go home, alright?" she nodded but her brows furrowed. He began to walk through the thick forestry.

"S-Sasori…" it sounded disrespectful for some reason; he needed a better title. He saved her life; he was taking her in. It was disrespectful, so she tried once more, "Sas-Sasori-san?"

Rust colored eyes turned to her and a wan smile that looked crooked on him appeared, "We are going to a place called Sunagakure."

Large doe eyes blinked up at him and overhead a crow cawed lazily. Hinata jumped and scuttled over to his side. Tiny fingers wound around his thick cloak, digging in and a light hand landed gently on her head. He pat her almost tenderly before beginning to walk once more, allowing her to cling as she wished.

She stuck close to his side in the forest that was thick.

Hinata didn't know how long they traveled along the beaten path, but she lurched to a sudden stop when Sasori came to a halt. "S-Sasori-san?" she questioned.

A hand held up and he did a silencing gesture to the girl who blinked up at him and scurried closer if that was possible. Nudging herself through the flap of the cloak that was open, she backed into it and bumped into his legs. Sasori's hand removed itself from her head and stealthy fingers ran into his cloak to retrieve a kunai.

There was a moment in time when nothing moved and Hinata clutched closer to Sasori carefully. A man leapt down, Hinata's eyes squinted in a flash of light she recognized as his headband – it was of Konohagakure. Her mouth dropped open in a question but she couldn't exactly say what happened next.

His fingers flashed from his cloak which fell slightly to one shoulder from an arm outstretching from the thick cloth. A whizzing noise flew, grinned in the light and landed with a low, abrupt _thunk_.

Hinata's eyes took in a sight. The man in front of them twitched and stumbled forward, hand reaching up to grasp what Hinata slowly realized was a kunai. She felt rather than saw Sasori's arm lower and move back into the cloak. It was the kunai he'd thrown. She hadn't even seen it.

The man's hand tried to grasp the handle of the kunai which was buried deeply in his forehead, head arching back unnaturally in his attempt at grasping the projectile. He suddenly fell limp and fell to one knee, falling over to one side.

Hinata watched a small pool of blood well beneath him with large, shocked eyes that stared disbelievingly. "Wh-wh…why?" she asked, eyes snapping to him while she detangled herself from him. Stepping back the young girl stared at him accusingly.

He stared back, then smiled and Hinata felt something tremble; one does not bite the hand that feeds. "He was going to hurt us, so it was necessary," she didn't know what the words meant besides 'hurt' but the beguiling smile made her melt.

He would never lie to her. He was the savior from the dark, entering the fire and shielding her. Yet, even at this simple justification, Hinata knew she couldn't fully trust him - deep in her gut, it was a sixth sense that pleaded with her as such. Hinata didn't disrespect people purposely; she knew when to give gratitude and utmost respect. Sasori deserved it more than the next person.

She bit her lips and nodded, coming closer like a wary animal to the hand held out to her, extended in a tender way. She set her tiny pale hand in his larger, tanner hand. Fingers curled around her hand, and tugged her to his side. He stared at her, as though considering her, "Come, we will have to hurry."

There was no more walking side by side her savior, she rather kept up to his running speed for only a few moments, but then lagged behind.

Seeing his figure become slowly more distant, she panted and Hinata pushed herself to not lose sight of him. Time dragged on and the white eyed girl lost count of how many minutes, hours went by; instead keeping a tab on Sasori while trying to keep up to his rigorous pace.

The night was long and Hinata felt her legs come to a wobbly stop when Sasori did in fact for once turn around to look at her, looking not at all winded. Rust colored eyes half lidded in a lizard sort of contemplation gazed at her unblinkingly before his neck swung around to look ahead to a dark cave.

Without words he nudged her towards it like a mother animal to a pup or cub. Hinata took it as incentive and walked to it obligingly, soft footsteps crunched over gravel and Hinata turned her head to look up at him fearfully when the mouth of the cave gawped like a hungry maw. A greedy hand reached forth and caught soft thick cloth, holding it tightly.

Rust eyes, golden tints turned before them and a hand at her back nudged her once more, herding her to it wordlessly.

Hinata took baby steps and reveled in amazement at just how patient this red haired person was with her. They were enveloped by darkness, but it made her less frightened knowing that there was still a cloth for her to hold on to, knowing that Sasori was there with an hand to her back.

Hinata stood in the dark, beside Sasori and suddenly, like a floor sweeping out from under you, she was surprised when cloth zipped through her fingers. She cried out, a tiny little puppy's whimper from a loss of her figurative safety net.

There was no feeling of thick cloth over her fingers, dirty with soot and soil by now. A cold dread feeling enveloped her, to which she identified as fear. Fear of the dark, fear of abandonment.

There was no longer a warm leg behind her. She could feel tears well.

A quick sound of fabric and within half a moment she was bundled up like a miniature mummy.

Scent of sandalwood, burnt wood and cold ash raveled around her. Warmth had swallowed her whole rather abruptly. A hand on her head steadied her fluttering heart. "Sleep," he spoke comfortingly in the dark. "Do you know how to defend and attack?" he asked suddenly.

Hinata bit her lip, memories surfacing painfully like a child rising from cold water, and nodded her head reluctantly, "N-not well, S-Sasori-san…" shyly, it was muttered and wounded pride was almost visible.

He was silent for a moment, "Tomorrow, that will be remedied, however, as of now, rest is needed. Sleep," he commanded softly, urging her to lie down and take her rest.

His hand slid away from her head and she heard him walk away from her slowly, she stepped after him, "No, stay. I will not be gone for long." Then, he was gone.

Hinata stood in the dark before backing up to a cave wall and sliding down it. Exhaustion weighed her tiny limbs down like weights. The silence in the cave coupled with the warm cloak was nearly as good as the warm glass of honeyed milk the servants at the Hyuuga household would give her before bed. Knees drawn up, she fell to one side softly and eyelids shut like hurried blinds.

She fell asleep, curled up like a small animal; surrendering to her drowsiness.

(Here, the entry ends so bid you goodnight)

-

So far, yes, just Hinata and Sasori, but that's not the pairing. There will be no actual 'pairing' but rather a dark character development from quite a few people, not just Hinata now. And no, they haven't reached the Akatsuki as of yet; Sasori is still with Suna, sort of. I'll explain later. -.-;; …Lots of weird stuff and gore up soon...


	3. Chapter 2

**Umbra**

♪♪♪♪

_I am not the enemy. I am not the enemy. I am not the enemy. I am the savior. Repeat after me. Repeat. After. Me. _

Hinata cried out as she flipped through the air from a hit from Sasori. Toppling over herself as she landed, her tiny arms protested profusely as she struggled to push herself up. Blood dribbled out of her mouth, slick and sticky. Wiping her mouth with the back of her head she stood on her trembling legs. The Byakugan she had summoned was weak, but there. She coughed and a puddle of blood dripped from her lips. Sasori wasn't even in a battle ready stance.

Hinata let out a little child like battle cry before she leapt into the fray, charging forth with an open palm and many openings to her already batter self. Sasori moved quick and fluid and without any difficulty to the left. A leg was sent out and it slammed into Hinata's side, "Up." He commanded ruthlessly as she collapsed heavily, gasping for air like a fish on land. Her teeth bit into her lips and tore through the tissue. Her nails dug into the earth and grass collected beneath them. She couldn't get up. _Useless. Pathetic. Undeserving. Worthless_. "Hinata," he called in that ever soft voice of his, "I am not your father. I will not walk away from our session. I'm not going to turn my back on you and leave you there on the ground, so show me a little courtesy and get up. Get up Hinata, I won't leave you there."

Warmth gushed at her center and sudden giddiness fueled her but did not completely leave her without guard. Her toes squirmed through the dirt and she forced herself up, shaky arms pushing her up slowly. Legs battling against the impossible slipped but rose with heavy shudders. _He is not father…he said we wouldn't turn his back on me…he said he wouldn't leave. He deserves respect._

Hot fire entered her mind and the burns that had peeled some of her already healing skin. A hand in blood reached out in the heat. A smile on a doll face – a stranger in the most literal sense and no family there. _Leave me to burn? Leave me to burn? There…there…_

Hinata rose and staggered to the side. Sasori watched her with those rust colored eyes, the sun gleaming in them and the cloak he had allowed her to use for a blanket last night was swept over him like a swath of shadow.

_There will be…_

Hinata sniffled and rubbed the dirt smudging and irritating her cheek away. The miniscule cut on her cheek produced red fluid.

_No…_

Hinata's muscles felt as though they were going to collapse inwards, but she straightened her posture as much as it would allow. Sasori's eyes narrowed and Hinata felt something hot twist in her gut, though she didn't know what it was. It made her eyes burn familiarly and the veins on her temples webbed out wider though Hinata didn't notice that – she did notice that the dots on Sasori got more noticeable though.

_Me to…_

Hinata cried out and rushed forth, tiny legs moving quickly despite the wounds and bruises. Sasori dodged easily, but noted that her endurance was her best quality. Speed would probably suffice to be her next best bet. He made other quick analysis and came down to a conclusion that time was not the enemy, neither was devotion but that human quality would prove bothersome. Just a little though – everyone could grow out of anything.

Hinata skid and instead of attacking, Sasori was content to allow her to come at him, miss and trip over herself, bleeding at her mouth and her little palms alit with burning chakra.

_Burn..._

Hinata's eyes widened and she couldn't dodge the sudden leg that tripped her, then the other which caught her in the stomach and flew her across the small clearing that was being occupied by them, into shrubbery whose occupants (a few chickadees) flew up from the commotion. Hinata's small hand gripped the bark of a tree next to her and squeezed. The hot thing flared up again, she still didn't know what it was though Sasori did. His eyes narrowed a little in amusement; wounded pride and the tinged beginnings of rage.

She coughed and moved out, frail skin cutting on some thorns though she ignored the pain. Charging at him once more out of stubborn stupidity, Sasori decided this. Some of her human traits that he no longer possessed would be useful; a weapon that wouldn't need sharpening.

_Again_.

His foot connected with her chest and she was flung back. Gasping, she clawed at her throat for air since she'd just had the air knocked out of her. A shadow loomed overhead and Sasori smiled down at her. It was fake, a painted fixture on a dolls' pretty face, but nonetheless, Hinata felt as though she'd accomplished something. What? She didn't know, but Sasori looked pleased and that was what mattered. "With training, you'll improve, with some…adjustments, you'll do better than improve." He crouched down after saying that and gently pressed against the middle of her chest. She sucked in air and coughed a little, rolling to her side in her relief.

A hand passed through her hair, nails against her scalp made her calm a little more. Hinata stared up into his rust colored eyes while her own slowly closed. Her lids fell heavily and everything was quiet, calm and black.

♪♪♪♪

Sasori looked down at the girl he was toting in his arms, she was tiny, a little runt compared to others from what he approximated as her age. Her fighting skills were pathetic and self esteem was near nonexistent. She was slow, never hitting to hurt, the only redeeming qualities of this girl was the fact that she possessed the Byakugan, her endurance was fair and most of all, the key ingredient to the calamity he was prepared to unleash; she was becoming devoted to him.

Sasori turned to his left and stopped suddenly, avoided the abrupt barrage of shuriken headed his way, spinning madly. He turned to stare at a gleam in the sunlight. Konohagakure – again. He saw white eyes glaring at him hatefully, "You! Put Hinata-sama down immediately." A sharp, cutting order and his white eyes intensified for a moment, veins threading along the sides of his face. He leapt down and Sasori saw that this man looked similar to Hinata's father; Hiashi. He figured that they would send out a small number of people to look for the missing child ever since his first encounter with the other Konoha ninja.

Sasori stared at him hard; he would not be hard to take care of. His hand reached into his cloak and pulled forth another kunai; he needn't use his other form for such rubbish. Hinata stirred in the cradle of his left arm's elbow and upper arm but didn't wake due to her sheer exhaustion. Sasori never once took his eyes off the Hyuuga man before him. "Hn, she'll wake up and she's been sleeping so soundly. I wouldn't want her to overexert herself, you see." The Hyuuga's eyebrows immediately drew together in his fury.

"Fool! You will have the wrath of all the Hyuugas after her! Give her up!" he snarled angrily.

"Hyuuga, you as well as I know dead men can't talk. You came alone with no backup. No one knows _precisely_ who took her – you're just like the rest of them running around without a head on your shoulders like a headless chicken." The kunai shined in the sunlight. "They won't know who took her either, Hyuuga." The kunai was thrown and the white eyed man dodged artfully, hair flaring in its long ponytail behind him.

"Fool! I have eyes all around me; you think you can get past me?" he laughed a little. Sasori could see the sweat on his upper lip.

"But of course; what else to do but take out each and every one of those 'eyes'?" Sasori smiled and shifted Hinata who continued to sleep peacefully considering Sasori's light movements were not enough to stir her. "Perhaps I'll even place them all on a peacock for you when you fall." The Hyuuga snarled and charged forth. Sasori moved back, careful to keep a certain amount of distance between them. He narrowed his eyes and ducked, careful of not jarring Hinata. Devotion to him or not – if she witnessed him killing a relative of hers the stack of cards he had painstakingly built would blow away. Ducked, dodged without a kunai the Hyuuga thought he had him cornered. **_Sure_**.

Sasori moved fluidly, keeping Hinata's head close to him, he kicked the man in his side and ignored the small electric wave of chakra that pulsed back because of him making contact with the Hyuuga. His hands flew to the shuriken imbedded in the tree and he spun them at the white eyed man. He blocked them a chakra infused hands. Sasori's right index and thumb pinched down on Hinata's jugular when she stirred and her eyes fluttered rapidly. He pinched down hard enough so she would lose consciousness. Her body fell limp in his arm once more. The Hyuuga charged at him. The redheaded man had calculated his next movement. Three. Two.

One.

Sasori threw Hinata's motionless body in the air, flinging her in the direction of her relative. Shurikens spun after her in three different places. A gasp filled the clearing and the man was shielding Hinata with his back, one of the shuriken imbedded in the back of his neck. The girl was in his arms and he fell to one knee, trembling slightly. The white eyed man looked down at the prone girl. "Hinata…sama…"

In his blind spot, he did not see the hand that rose with a weapon clutched in between fingers. He did however, feel cool metal sliding through the flesh of his neck, penetrating his spinal column. The hiss and sickening drip drop of the blade through his own flesh was the last his heard. Blood gushed out, by the literal pints as it were. Hinata was nearly dropped when her relative's arms loosened around her mousy frame. A hand snaked out and snatched her shirt's collar, dangling her above the ground. Blood specks dotted her face and black fabric brushed them away carefully. She was cradled in the crook of his elbow once more.

The man on the ground at Sasori's feet coughed and blood flew out, "Gi…give her…" Sasori was already moving away from him, not needing to know how soon he would die. He knew he was speaking on his last breath.

Hinata breathed in deeply and sighed softly, snuggling in the warm garb that surrounded her. Softly, she mumbled a childish notion of silliness within her sleep brought upon his hand. Wind blew gently, sun shined down warmly and Hinata slept deeply. Soundly. Peacefully.

(There are ink spots all over the small P.S in the corner of the journal, so you ignore it and move onto the next page.)

-

…Well…then…for right now, it's just going to be Sasori and Hinata but those are just the characters. Next chapter will not be featuring these two and will move on to our insane buddy Sir Psycho Sexy. …In cherub form. XP Until next time then so please drop some token on your way out. Any questions and I'll either send a message back to you or if you don't leave an email…then…I'll answer it in the next chapter. XD R&R appreciated.


	4. Chapter 3

**Umbra**

♪♪♪♪

_Who are you? Who am I? Who are we but each other? _

The desert was hot, scalding and the burning sand beneath swirled up with the constant wind. A little boy clung tightly to his stuffed bear, hand dragging it behind him dejectedly. None of the children of this village would even comply to his wishes as being their playmate out of fear he hadn't meant to cause. Demon children are not allowed to play with others, even if they do mean to play nicely – it was simply not allowed.

The boy's red hair shined in the heated desert sun and he looked to his left to see children playing, smiling and laughing. _Enjoying_ each other's company. The redhead's little hand tightened around the bear he clutched and sand moved beneath his feet, stirring like a waking dog at his biding. It moved up and lapped at his exposed feet and ankles. He could see the heat of the desert on the sand and the wrath from those little bastards being happy, ignoring him while he suffered, while they spit hurtful to him out of their own naivety, oh, the wrath it grew and blossomed like a red rose. The sand moved, slithering across the plain of rock like a side winding snake. It rose up, looking like an unformed tentacle but moved like an overgrown serpent. It came down and wrapped around the legs of two running children who fell unexpectedly to the ground, crying out in shock. The other children screamed and ran. The redhead's grey green eyes dodged over to them and his free hand flung out, "Wait! Don't leave me! I only wanted to…" his voice was cut off when a girl trapped in his sand screamed, eyes wide.

He looked over to see a blonde head of hair and mauve eyes staring at him; Yashamaru. The sand curled from the bodies of the captive children and stopped chasing the others. It flung around the little redhead and brushed against his cheeks to remove little droplets of moisture. "Gaara-sama," the blonde man before him called and Gaara held his gaze to his feet, feeling more little tears building at his eyes. "Gaara-sama…" the voice was softer now and Gaara looked up; the children had vanished, "We should go home." Gaara nodded slightly.

The sand whispered over his feet, tugging at the edge of his worn little blue pants. Yashamaru's head snapped up and Gaara's followed his uncle's example when a horn blew loud and clear. "What was that?" Gaara asked, tugging at his uncle's sleeve impatiently.

Yashamaru was silent only for a moment before going on, "It's a signal that there's someone home." Gaara looked over where his uncle was staring.

"Who?"

Yashamaru grew quiet, "The dead."

Gaara didn't ask any more questions and only followed his uncle obediently, sand moving beneath his feet as he walked, teddy bear still dragging behind him.

♪♪♪♪

Gaara could almost feel the walls around him closing in, darkness settling in like a bird to a home nest. Feathers of black spread and etched on, no light to keep them at bay until the redhead's bedroom was splayed with horrid wings of dark. He swung his legs over the side of his bed and looked outside where lightning struck like a blacksmith's hammer to white hot steel; sparks arcing. It flashed and out of the corner of Gaara's eye, he saw something massive in the edge of his room, soundly sleeping. He turned his head to it and only saw the thing that was always there.

A large creature with golden hide and interesting blue grey designs, it slept undeterred. A large tail was curled beneath its paws that held lengthy and sharp claws. Black rings outlined its eyes. Gaara stared at it and in the background, lightning flashed. The young boy's thoughts began to wander, paying the thing no mind.

The children who laughed, sang, teased and smiled at one another never did that with him. Undiluted fear coursed through their veins when he came towards them with a shy smile and his stuffed animal. Was he so hideous that they cowered from the sheer volume of his ugliness? Gaara looked down at his hand, clenching them and unclenching them. A whisper wrought at the edge of his mind touched him, _Who are you?_ It asked and Gaara found this to be a silly question that was spoken to him, perhaps from the beast slumbering over there in the corner.

"I am Sabaku no Gaara. Who are you?" he answered back but received no further reply.

A curious little frown came over his features and the anger that churned in his chest coupled with the slight irritation felt like a scorpion's stinger in his organs. His head snapped over to the sleeping creature, wondering why it wouldn't answer him now (as he believed it was the one who spoke first). His fists clenched and a void that burned and writhed excitedly touched his heart.

The golden and grey blue beast cracked an eye open; more king's gold gleaming with touches of black tar. Its horrid mouth drew up and curled into a touch of a smirk; it breathed in and exhaled deeply. Warm air gushed from its nostrils and Gaara found himself merely glaring at this thing which had been rooted in his bedroom for few weeks now. It shifted and Gaara stared it down, slipping from his bed to stand on his feet, arms crossed. "I asked who you are. Answer me." His hairless brow line crinkled with his agitation and the thing only continued to smirk at him, eye staring at him with what he could guess as amusement.

_Who are you?_ The voice asked, sounding stronger than the mere whisper is had been before.

Gaara felt his fingers twitch out of irritation. "I told you, I am Sabaku no Gaara. I live in Sunagakure and my father is the Kazekage."

The voice asked again, _Who are you?_

Gaara's limited patience seemed to snap, "_I AM SABAKU NO GAARA_!" he screamed at the beast. It snarled at him, opening a maw large enough to swallow five children his size, long incisors glinting.

**_WHO ARE YOU!? _**

Gaara fell back onto his rump when the beast roared, standing from its sleeping place to snarl back at him angrily. The magnitude of the roar, while it knocked him down, it didn't seem to harm any other part of the room. He heard a craggy voice laugh a little, a small chuckle.

_Who are you? Who am I? Who are we? _The creature asked, still standing over Gaara with its chest puffed out, calmer now somehow. It sighed and lay down, tail curling around its paws but Gaara noticed that it didn't fall back to sleep. Its twin eyes of gold and tar stayed open, lazily half lidded in their lizard like contemplation. The thing's nostrils flared and breathed out. Gaara still didn't stand but only his hands clenched the soft carpet beneath him. It stared at him, righting itself as though it were a prideful statue.

Gaara stared back at the creature, remembering the giant maw and the roar. "What are you?" he asked, his large black ringed eyes staring intently at the creature before him, sitting ever so nobly.

It grinned and suddenly moved so quickly Gaara didn't have enough time to move out of the way, lightning flashed once more and thunder rumbled like a disgruntled lion. The creature's gold face loomed before him, smiling at him in a crocodile fashion. It opened it mouth a little and made a deep rumble in the back of its throat as it spoke softly. _Just what you are as well_.

Gaara's mouth opened but suddenly, the lights were on in his room and the door to it was open, a panting Yashamaru under the door frame. "Gaara-sama! Are you injured? Are you well? I heard you scream." He said quickly, eyes roaming over his nephew to do a quick damage report.

The redhead's eyes wandered from Yashamaru to where the giant beast had been, speaking with him, but it was gone. It had up and vanished once the lights had come on like a boogieman on the run from parents. Gaara released a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Where was it? Where had it gone? It was so massive so how could Yashamaru have missed it?

"Yashamaru there was"-

Yashamaru sighed and came around him, "Well if nothing is wrong, then let's get you fed…" he muttered.

Gaara's smaller hand gripped his uncle's. "There was a thing in here." He spoke with all seriousness, a poker face to behold.

Yashamaru's eyes widened, "A _thing_?"

Gaara nodded and spoke again, "It was real big. I don't know how it got past you."

Yashamaru cocked a brow and replied, "What was it though?"

Gaara looked at the space the beast had earlier occupied, now blank as it had been before, "I don't know." He whispered, as though speaking to himself.

(You see that the writing here is not of the girl's and you stare at it rather oddly before turning the page, ignoring the wear on the page as it had been rubbed against something harsh and grainy.)

-

Next chapter is our favorite blonde fuckup. XP But he's adorable.

In the last chapter Sasori was a bad boy and killed a Hyuuga. It wasn't Neji, but **akuma de soro** was correct in the assumption that it was his father. XP

The reason Hinata was left in the fire and WHY she was in the fire in the first place was – (is tackled by muse KAS)

-


	5. Chapter 4

**Umbra**

♪♪♪♪

_Monkey see, monkey do. Fox see, fox plan._

The blonde stayed dejectedly on the swing, being rocked back and forth by the wind a few times, watching the other children play and have fun, laughing and being nice to one another. They didn't give each other twisted scowls of disgust or perilous unneeded hate. '_Why?_' the bright blonde and blue eyed child asked himself as he looked on at the children messing around on the playground, chasing each other. '_Why am I so different?_' the words echoed in his head when he remembered an ice cream man wouldn't take his money. It had been yesterday when he had wanted to buy a popsicle since it was so hot – the cart keeper smirked at him and said that they were out. Naruto had pointed to the rows of popsicles in his cart, confused but he only turned and rolled the cart away, other children following. The cart keeper has whispered only this to him when the blonde haired child had been denied, "_We don't take business from murdering foxes_."

The blonde boy's name was Naruto; Uzumaki Naruto. As such, he sat on his lonesome swing, spying on the children who wouldn't let him play with them. The rope the swing (a flat wooden plank) was attached to swung a little more again. Naruto's small, chubby hands clenched the rope tightly. '_WHY?!_' something rushed through his blood, heating and churning like sour milk. Naruto flung himself off the swing, casting another miserable glance at the children who played in front of him mockingly, as though saying, **_see? See? You can't be like us, watch what we do, but you can't do it though. Haha_**.

What had he done to them? The question had encountered him countless times as he walked through the streets of Konohagakure alone. People pointed and stared, whispered behind hands, gossiping about him and he didn't even know what about. He clenched his fists and stared determinedly at the ground. The hot thing in his blood twisted and caught hold of his lungs so it felt like he was breathing fire. Heh, if only. It settled in his gut and purred, raking claws along the inside of his belly. It murmured poisonous toxins in his ears, toxic waste filling his mind and as reactive as uranium.

Naruto walked along faster, feeling his voice build up at the back of his throat, heavy as a stone to be thrown. They hissed hurtful words into his youthful ear and grinned behind their horrified human masks of emotion to see his reaction. What had he done to them?! He had never done anything but be a child! Children were pint sized terrors, yes but they were never to be the subject of scorn of hate – what had he done? Who must he apologize to? For what must he apologize for? What was it that caused the sneers, hate, anger and hostility directed at him every day? What? Why?

Naruto clenched his fists and walked a bit more quicker, trying to block out their voices as he'd done for quite some time as soon as he'd learned what some of their words meant. It was getting harder anymore – trying to ignore the venom that sat in his blood and made him feel like a wilting plant. It was just getting too much, honestly. He walked faster, until it had escalated to a run when he saw their stares, their anger, their hate. What had he done? What had he done to them? '_WHY?!_' the word echoed through his head like a broken record. The continuous word replay didn't make the feeling in his chest any lighter.

♪♪♪♪

Naruto looked down at his stomach when it grumbled moodily, demanding to be fed immediately. He looked up at the light blue sky, slowly being streaked with lavender. It was still pretty light out so there would be numerous shopkeepers and he could hunt for one that would actually take his money, or offered work for it. The small blonde boy made his way through the slowly dispersing crowds. A plethora of food cooking caught his nose and he nearly thought his nose was going to melt off his face. Stumbling through young couples, teenagers and adults, he looked over the counters to see what they were serving.

Each and every one of his attempts were met with harsh, warning glares or the shopkeepers not even bothering to look at him at all. The little blue eyed child mumbled about jerks while clutching his loudly protesting stomach. Frantic blue eyes searched and he spotted a stand – a ramen stand. He inhaled and he felt his mouth water. Walking to it in a flash, he clambered onto a stool, trying to ignore the burning gazes in his back and the sides of his face, the intimidating leers. The owner turned and smiled, gazing at the blonde, "What can I get you little fella?"

Naruto stared at him and replied, "What've ya got?" he asked, arms leaning on the counter.

The owner ignored the people around him, whispering to get the boy out of his shop immediately. "Hm…how about a plain miso ramen? Sound good?" he asked and Naruto eagerly agreed, wanting food as soon as possible. The owner chuckled and called out behind him, "Ayame! One plain miso ramen!"

There was a clatter of dishes and steams wafting in and out, Naruto noticed how people began to drift out of the food stand, exiting. The blonde huddled his shoulders in and ignored the stabs of pain entering his chest. His brow crinkled, pondering on his earlier thoughts. '_Why? What've I done? Was I bad or something? Do I gotta apologize?_'

There was a clank of dishware in front of him and he was ricocheted out of his thoughts when hot steam hit his face. He inhaled and nearly died. He picked up the chopsticks and dug in, "Be careful it's very…hot…" the owner trailed off when he saw how fast the boy ate it, barely chewing and all swallowing. He blinked at the blonde kid who had unconsciously driven out his other customers save for a couple people in the back in a single booth. Turning, he called out, "Ayame! Another miso ramen bowl!" more clattering and he took it as an affirmative.

A yell caught Naruto by surprise so he stopped eating for a moment, noodles hanging out of his mouth. He saw a man whose clothes were in tatters trying to get free of the arms of two masked people in dark clothes. He yelled savagely once more, trying to shake them off of him. He turned to Naruto and the blonde child saw something in those wild grey eyes he would always remember; ferocity to a level he had never seen before. He gulped the noodles down to stare at the man who screamed senselessly, kicking and writhing in their grasp.

"Hm…finally caught him." The owner remarked. Naruto turned his head slowly to the owner.

"Caught who?" he questioned, those wild dog eyes flashing through his mind.

The owner seemed surprised, apparently he'd only spoken out loud, accidently speaking his mind, "The missing nin."

"Missing nin?"

The owner nodded, "Zasuku Oroki; murderer and betrayer extraordinaire." He said with his eyes hard and lips pursed slightly.

Naruto gave him a confused look, "What's a missing nin?"

The ramen food stand owner looked down at Naruto, "A missing nin is someone who betrays their country and the ANBU bring them in for their punishments. A missing nin could be class D, C, B, A or worse; S."

Naruto stared at him and the owner sighed, "D is the lowest ranking meaning they're not all that dangerous. S…" he saw the owner shiver. "S is the worst; the strongest and the deadliest."

"What're ANBU?"

"ANBU are the ones who bring them in; they're the shinobi who are the best of the best – practically undefeatable." He nodded to himself and Naruto stared at him.

"The missing nin…what do they do 'sides betray us?" he asked.

The ramen owner gave him a long look, "They…break the code of conduct," at Naruto's confused look he explained. "The code of conduct is like a set of rules, specifically for the shinobi but…stricter. They give away their country's secrets; turn on a fellow shinobi, anything that upsets their code. They're…just rogue ninja from their country." He said and turned back to hand Naruto his second bowl of ramen.

Naruto stared into the liquid of his ramen bowl; into his own face. Rogue ninja…the ninja who betray their country. He blinked for a moment and saw a pair of maddened wild dog eyes staring back at him ferociously. Naruto blinked again and saw his own blue eyes mixing with those wild grey eyes he'd seen.

His chopsticks stabbed into the bowl and picked up noodles to deposit in his mouth.

(There are tears on this page and it is crinkled rather horribly, the ink smudged in places and it is once again not the same writing as the others)

-

This is going to be quite different from my other stories and frankly, I'd like to experiment as much as possible without going overboard. It's not just going to focus on the 'main' characters but will also center around those who will be in the background because, obviously, not everything is great first hand – sometimes merely what the observer sees is enough for mystery and their own explanations of things, right? If you have any suggestions, critiques, flames (structured ones please, I only listen to those that make sense and aren't retarded) and other such things feel free to make them known. :D R&R, have a nice read and a nice day folks.


	6. Chapter 5

**Umbra**

♪♪♪♪

_In the eyes of a mother, there is one apple and many thorns. _

Hinata's eyes remained closed through she yawned and stretched, tongue curling like a little kitten. Sasori watched her from across the room, idly playing with a kunai. She sighed and curled up in a little ball once more, snuggling into the futon mattress the inn they were staying at had provided. The redhead cast his eyes from her to the window in which moonlight spilled out of.

"_What are you doing here, Sand-nin?" a white eyed man spat at the hideous cloaked figure before him, looking so utterly gross and deformed. _

_A grotesque smile appeared, "Only here for what I've come here for." _

_The Hyuuga head's eyebrows furrowed, "Continue to speak in riddles and I'll have your head – speak now!" _

_Tense silence consumed the room. "I hear you have a worthless daughter, Hiashi-sama. Weak, useless, and soft. How ironic that she was gifted to you, isn't it?" _

_Hiashi's nostrils flared like an angry bull, an angry vein throbbing on his forehead. "Silence! I will not listen to your gibberish," he stood to his full height. "Remove yourself from –"_

"_Hm…Hiashi-sama, her mother was a…how you say? A courtesan, yes? Which makes her only a half Hyuuga, what a pity." _

_Hiashi had gone pale and he called for his guards. "Sand nin you will be removed from my household at once," he hissed, white eyes flashing. _

_A crooked smile formed briefly behind the black silk veil, "Yes, and so will your daughter." _

_Hiashi's nostrils flared, "Such impudence -!" _

"_Hiashi-sama, I came here for only one purpose and it is to exploit my own. Your guards have evacuated because it seems as though there was a sudden…fire in the houses that have not yet reached the level of this one." He toyed with a glass figurine full of explosives. "Are you going to wish your daughter good luck?" _

_Hiashi's lips twisted, "I hope you're dragged down to hell by the demons." _

"_Hm. The probability of that happening…is quite likely…" He smiled and it was thrown. _

_Fire engulfed the rest of the house like a living monster_.

Sasori's eyes wandered over to Hinata's seemingly still form and locked on her, orbs narrowing in the slightest. "Why aren't you asleep?" he watched her flinch a little.

"I-I'm sorry, S-Sasori-san b-but…I…uhm…er…" as she hummed and hawed over her answer, Sasori realized her problem.

"Hinata, come sit next to me. I'll tell you a bedtime story." He offered and changed his voice, altering its tones to a point where it sounded parental…_motherly_. She turned her head around immediately, instinctively reacting to the type of tone he'd used. She scrambled off the futon to sit next to him on the hardwood floor. A soft hand was placed on her shoulder and he gently tugged her down to his lap. Her head was cushioned by the edge of his knee and she tensed but relaxed and tiny fingers wrapped in his cloak.

"W-what's it a-about?" she asked, smelling burnt wood and cold ash, as well as hot metal.

"What would you like it to be about?" he countered softly, fingers running through her hair as he stared out the window, half listening to his childish, stuttering prattle.

"I-I d-don't know…" she responded shyly, and Sasori looked down when she was snuggling the black fabric.

He was silent, and then the words flowed out flawlessly, fluidly because his gift was storytelling and fabricating things from his mind. He first told her of gleaming red eyes in the dark with a pinwheel of darkness at their centers; from those eyes spawned dragons and devils, clay owls and butterflies, an immortal priest who kept to his religious beliefs, a rag doll made of avarice in and out. Then, he whispered in her attentive ear of a man eating plant that walked on two legs that was split in half, a shark which came on land and grew legs and a boy with no true face.

She was shivering and he knew it was not from the cold – she was much too used to it within her own chilled house, but he gathered her under his cloak anyway and tucked her against his arm. "I-I-Is i-it," she gulped, "R-_real_?"

He hummed in his answer for a moment, "Perhaps…" he murmured.

"T-Tell me a t-truth." Giant opalescent eyes stared up, colored colorless in their true color but mocked all others.

He stared down at her, rust eyes with specks of gold gleaming back at him, lightened but mocking nonetheless. "A truth?"

She nodded and tugged at the inner lining of his cloak. "Why would you wish me to tell a truth? Fairy tales are so much less cruel than the truth of this world." Absently he tucked a long strand of hair behind her ear. He noticed her eyes were droopy. A mirthless and empty smile appeared on his dollish face, "Did the meaningless ramblings of a silly man bore you to sleep?"

Her eyes shut and a heavy, deep breath was his answer.

†††

_Sasuke tugged on his mother's apron while she cut his tomatoes for him, "What is it Sasuke?" _

_Slice. Thump. Slice. _

"_Where's Itachi?" he asked, ebony eyes watching her carefully, making sure his clumsy mother didn't cut herself with the knife again. _

_She turned to look down at him, "He went out on a mission early today, Sasuke," she wrinkled her nose. "Why?" Sasuke pouted and turned his head away, fingers still latched on her blue apron. _

"_He promised that he was going to train with me today." _

_He watched a corner of his mother's mouth lift up as she finished cutting up his tomatoes for his lunch. "Did he now?" _

_Sasuke nodded stubbornly. "He did." _

_His mother turned back, eye sockets empty and vacant, no eyes staring back at him. The twin dark cubby holes leaked dark cherry red blood, drip drop, drip drop. Her mouth gaped open and blood gurgled up like some twisted fountain. She fell forth and Sasuke screamed, yelling out when she landed on him and pinned him to the ground with her weight. _

_She was suffocating him so he tried pushing at her shoulders, "M-Mother…mother…" an arm moved and curled around his waist like a snake. Sasuke couldn't breathe and he gasped out, choking as his mother continued to not move and pin him down. Slick blood swathed the back of his neck and frothed along his collarbone. _

"…m…mother_…" he managed to whisper out hoarsely. _

_Her lips moved against his neck, "Love you so much, Sasuke…" _

_Sasuke's weakly pushing arms gave in and he felt his eyes close. _

Sasuke lunged up with a gasp, hands clawing at his throat and battling the nonexistent and still body over him. The boy child looked around him splatters of blood, twisted faces and bodies but found only the white walls of the orphanage. His hands covered his face, moved over his torso to search for his mother's blood but to no avail. Nothing. It was just another sick and demented nightmare given to him from his murderous and traitorous brother Itachi.

His fingers dug into his eyes as he remembered his mother's empty sockets. Nothing stared back only bloody holes of hell and death. He felt tears build up behind his eyes and he let out a small hiccough, small body hunching over as they slipped past his eyes. "M…m…mother….mama…."

The slight sniffles and silent crying went unnoticed and uncared for.

†††

Gaara turned to the wall opposite of him where the moon shined down on the beast that was still here. He didn't say anything but only stared at it until it once more cracked its eyes open though Gaara knew it was never asleep anymore. The creature shifted and grinned at Gaara, teeth shining in the moonlight. The redhead stared at it and opened his mouth, "Did you know mother?"

The creature cocked its head to the side as though pondering the question seriously. _Your mother?_

Gaara nodded. _Perhaps. _

The redhead narrowed his eyes in irritation at the thing across of him, paws crossed just so and with its eyes half lidded. "Who else would I be talking about?"

_Hm…what do want to know of her? _

The redhead cast his gaze lower not looking at the creature opposite of him but rather the carpeted floor, "Did she love me?"

There was no answer and for a moment Gaara thought that the beast had left once more whenever he asked some questions, but when he looked up it was still there, breathing in and out deeply. _She died for you didn't she?_

Gaara winced, "But why?"

_She was your mother and she had high hopes for you_.

Gaara's eyes widened with excitement and curiosity, "What sort of high hopes? What do you mean?" he asked, his typical child's need for answers surfacing.

The beast only grinned wider and chuckled a little before throwing his head back and opening his maw to laugh loudly, craggy voice sharp on Gaara's sensitive ears. The redhead continued to stare back at the beast opposite of him from his place sitting on his bed. Its head tilted down and eyes gleamed with a noticeable new light. Its massive shoulders still shook. _You'll find out soon enough_.

Gaara stared at him with his mouth parted slightly and eyes narrowed, confusion overtaking his expression. "What…?" he blinked and there was nothing there, sitting before him and bemusing him with puzzles he didn't want to figure out.

A whisper breathed across the side of Gaara's face, _liberation is the transcendental reality we will make_.

-

O.O oookay, **Wolfgirl21**, whatever you do…don't have a heart attack. Just calm down cause I don't want to be liable for charge. O.o… Tenten will be an off the set character because I'm going to have a surprise guest! …No, really. I have to think of who first 'cause I have three people in mind. XD

**Ty**, I apologize for the mix up but the Kyuubi had absolutely nothing to do with Naruto (in the last chapter); it was just the man's eyes he saw and it was supposed to be a pointer for what's going to happen to Naruto and how he meets up with – (is tackled by editor)

The music notes are a change of scenery/time and the daggers are a change of POV, okay? Unfortunately I couldn't add Naruto because um….Okay so I was a little lazy. XD Please give meh a little lurves people. Suggestions, questions, flames (good ones!), criticisms whatever. Have a nice day and a nice read folks.


	7. Chapter 6

**Umbra**

♪♪♪♪

_Show me your teeth darling cause it's almost show time._

Ebony eyes stared into the grey sunshine and narrowed, hating the heavens for reasons he himself could hardly comprehend and wishing for his mother at the same time. Sasuke looked away and continued to walk down the road, passing the nearly completely burned down Hyuuga compound where they exclaimed that their heiress had been taken; kidnapped. They were distant relatives but Sasuke wanted nothing to do with them; he had a family and they had been taken from him. He couldn't just seek shelter beneath another family's wing and hope for the best of life (_suffer the innocent; he's starting to show his teeth, darlings_).

What he needed to do was hunt down his brother and defeat him, kill him just as his elder brother had instructed. His thick lashed eyes moved and he saw a blonde boy sitting on a swing all alone, looking embittered and pathetically sad all at once. The blonde boy turned his head and blue eyes flashed at the sight of him; like daggers glinting in the sun and Sasuke saw that his hands tightened on the swing's rope. Sasuke and he stared at one another, sensing pain and bitterness within their lives and knowing each other without speaking or knowing the other's name. Sasuke turned his head and continued to walk on, feeling some sort of satisfaction in knowing he was not the only one who knew of the darkness.

"_I'm hungry."_

"_I know Sasuke, that's why I'm making dinner." A woman with black pebbles for eyes smiled softly though her youngest son couldn't see it. Sasuke pouted and crossed his arms in a haughty way. _

"_I'm hungry _now_," he protested. _

"_Just wait a little while." _

_Silence and then, "Can I have some tomatoes?" Mikoto bit her lip to hide the snicker threatening to emerge from her throat. _

"_Why don't I make you a dango? Or a rice cake? That's what children like, ne?" she teased but Sasuke must not have noticed because she turned her head to look at him to see him furrowing his brow. _

"_Then I am not a child and I demand tomatoes." He nodded at the end of his sentence, pleased with the outcome. _

"_Yes sir, and what would you like on your tomatoes?" she questioned, kneading the dough for the soup's dumplings. _

_Sasuke's nose scrunched and he tried to remember the names of the herbs she used, "Salt…garlic and chime." _

"Thyme_, Sasuke," she corrected gently. _

_She did chuckle when he let out a rather impudent 'tch' at her correction, but all the same kept silent, knowing she was right. "Alright, Sasuke-sama. I'll get right on it." _

_Sasuke leaned forth and saw the small smile gracing his mother's lips though her long hair hid parts of it_.

His chest burned and he felt like snorting out the fire it churned with at remembrance of the once warm memory. Had this been a magical fairy tale, someone would have taken him and he would go to a good family with a brother (_who wouldn't be so damn cold, who wouldn't slice his mother's throat, bleed his father like a sacrificial pig and wouldn't make him feel like this_), they would have some sort of nonsensical animal as a pet and there would be a mother with a smile and warm eyes.

Reality was not a magical fairy tale with happy endings for all; beauty and happiness in everything.

Reality did not hold a brother with a cocky grin who would mess his hair up in the morning as a greeting. It had a big brother who taunted Sasuke to hate, to run, to be a coward and to kill him.

Reality did not have a new mother with a warm smile and eyes. It had a cold corpse in a tomb with silks lying over her where the spiders would weave around her.

Sasuke didn't believe in fairy tales.

†††

A muffled sound in the corner of Gaara's bedroom didn't make him turn while his eyes narrowed in remembrance of earlier that day. Grey green eyes shone the moon in their reflection.

_Gaara looked around for the missing Yashamaru, instead seeing a ninja wearing a black cloak and standing beside him was a young girl with an odd bob cut. _

_He approached them with sand licking at his ankles like a dog. He cocked his head before he stopped, knowing children had a grave fear of him but the girl had already turned. _

_She had large white eyes and Gaara thought for a moment that she was blind. She blinked at him and a small, pale hand reached out and caught the ninja's cloak, who turned and saw him. Gaara looked up and saw eyes of reddish gold rust staring back at him. An odd quirk of a smile was sent to him before he placed a hand between the girl's shoulders and began to walk. _

"_Gaara!" he heard his uncle's voice call from behind him and he turned partially while his blonde haired uncle panted breathlessly, "Where"-_

"_Who are they?" he asked suddenly, having never seen the two before. He pointed down the street to the other redhead and the young girl with blue colored hair. _

_Yashamaru went still and his eyes widened, "That's Akasuna no Sasori-sama," he looked down at Gaara, "He's the infamous Suna puppeteer." _

"_What about that girl?" Gaara asked sincerely, "She had white eyes. Is she blind?" he asked and he watched as his uncle tensed. _

"_What color eyes did you say she had, Gaara?" _

"_White, but Yashamaru, who is she?" Yashamaru didn't say anything but instead turned his head to gaze down the road which Sasori and the mysterious girl seemed to have vanished down. _

"_S-Sasori-sama…what have you _done_?"_

Gaara didn't know what this 'Sasori' person had done, but apparently it had been very bad; his uncle had went straight to his father in his office and ushered Gaara home. Yashamaru had this wild, paranoid look in his eyes while he escorted Gaara home. He could see the sweat on his uncle's upper lip while he babbled and mumbled to himself about 'horrid fate', 'Konohagakure's prized bloodline' and other such things in which Gaara did not yet comprehend.

_Akasuna no Sasori…it's been a long time since anyone every mentioned his name_.

Gaara turned to the beast crowding his room, "You know him?"

The beast threw his head back and laughter like nails on a blackboard rang out. _Those who once knew or heard of him never forget _Akasuna no Sasori.

Gaara's hairless brow line crinkled, "Why?"

The beast's gaze was half hooded now, in contemplation. _His parents had died long ago, when he'd been very young and in his modest childish desperation created them into puppets. He stimulated them to be his parents from their very corpses – it was of course a lie he'd fed to himself. Rumor is that he himself killed the Third Kazekage and now uses him as a hidden puppet, however thanks to him your father rose to power all the quicker so he was never questioned nor held accountable for the Third's mysterious disappearance_. The beast held a crooked smile on his ugly maw, _Interesting, isn't he?_

Gaara was silent and looked back out at the moon, hanging low like a pearl droplet. "Why did Yashamaru seem worried when I asked about that girl?"

The beast paused, but spoke in a rumble; _Sasori has always been estranged from everyone – it is not odd that he has her with him._ Gaara blinked at him in confusion. _The girl is not from here, nor should she be here…_ the thing crossed a paw over his other one calmly, but with that horrendous grin still fixed in place. _It's likely that Sasori has taken her from a place which will not tolerate her kidnapping_.

Gaara nodded slowly, "Why are her eyes white? Is she blind?" he pressed, wanting to know if the girl was as he suspected.

The creature grinned again, slyly and looked out at Gaara from one corner of his eye, _She sees more things than you, Sasori and anyone else here will ever see. She is far from blind, boy_.

†††

Sasori idly thought about what exactly to do next; he knew what moves were left before they were found out, but how to place them carefully was the tricky part. Carefully, he tightened a cog in Hiruko and bent the puppet's arm as a test, it creaked; beholding its looseness and he gripped a screwdriver in his hand while he began clockwork tune up of his favorite guise.

Off to the side in his underground workshop, where it was only illuminated by light bulbs and various lamps, Hinata sat on a stool while watching Sasori tinker about. A bit of bread slavered with honey was popped into her mouth while she silently watched him, he having scolded her earlier about talking while he was working (_gently, not even enough to make her flinch at all, but to only obey_).

A cup of water sat beside her meal of bread, honey, soup and thin dried strips of meat.

Sasori was about to turn for that can of what said grease oil, but Hinata leapt off her stool and handed it to him before he could finish turning. His fingers grasped it and there was the sound of wood creaking while he worked. The can was placed down and he wiped his hand with a rag, leaning back silently before patting her on the head to which Hinata (_willing to obey, wishing to please_) leaned into a bit.

He scratched her scalp gently as one would do to a prized pet.

(The writing is smudged and the page looks as though it was torn at; there are smears of blood where the rest of it is supposed to be and pieces of the writing look as though they've had different penmanship)

-

Ahem. There seems to have been an enormous misconception concerning Shukaku's 'physical' form and I apologize since it was my fault and I didn't leave enough clues for probably anyone to notice this but; Shukaku doesn't have a physical form in this story. This is where Gaara slowly becomes more aware of what is wrong with him per se and realizes that the beast is why. Shukaku is a hallucination you could say and from there Gaara will figure out most of the puzzle for himself.

Also...I'm thinking of which characters should jump in next; Hanabi, Temari or...someone else. I dunno. XD


	8. Chapter 7

**Umbra**

♪♪♪♪

_Destroy government, shoot your leaders down and become revolution – assassin be born._

Sand got in her eyes but she got up anyway, yelling out a battle cry at the man opposite of her, a kunai in her hand while she dashed forth. The nine year old girl was flipped through the air and landed heavily on the sandy ground but she spit out of the side of her mouth and got to her feet; charging once more. "Faster!" he instructed sharply and Temari smirked – she could do faster.

Baki awaited the small girl to come at him; she was small, even if she was exceedingly intelligent and utterly ruthless when it came down to it, but her little brother Kankurou was bigger than her and she was only a hair larger than her youngest brother Gaara. She roared when she came at him again, slicing and nicking his left pant leg. Baki felt pride (it may have been wrong to because he was merely an instructor and not her father) at the fury that burned deep in her eyes and the way she spun on the balls of her feet to slice at him again before ducking under his leg quickly, small fingers going up to press into a nerve under his knee.

He kicked her away and she spun through the air but landed in a wobbly crouch. She licked her lips and though she was panting, face red and sweat beading from her, she didn't ask for a break. She wanted to fight. She wanted to keep fighting until some sort of progress was reached and Baki felt his lips twitch. "Temari," the blonde girl looked up at him, her instructor and the closest thing she'd ever had to a father. "Come, water break." He ordered before striding away in neat steps.

Temari scowled at the thought of interrupting a fight but nonetheless welcomed the thought of cold water. Walking beside her instructor, she asked suddenly, "Baki?"

He looked down at her, small black eyes on her, "What is it Temari?"

"What kind of weapon do you think I'm…" her brows scrunched, "_Suited_ for?"

Baki thought it over, the way she howled ferociously when in battle, the times she was merely silent but came up so suddenly. Her teal eyes gleamed in the desert sun while she awaited his conclusion. "Well?"

"A fan," he said, looking ahead of them once more, while they retreated inside of the Academy, "A strong and large structure built with a steel skeleton and made to destroy far range or long range. With one swing," he went on and pretended not to notice the excited gleam in her eyes, "Toss them over air currents that could rip them to shreds and break their bones when they land, confuse them so they don't know what's up or down and then crush them with it closed." He turned his head to her appraisingly, "That is what you are suited for."

Temari smiled and though it looked pretty on her features, that didn't stop it from looking vicious like a desert jackal – so sneaky and cunning and deceptive in looks even. "Really Baki?" she asked, looking up at him just so that her teal eyes darkened to a blackened sort of color.

Baki withheld his smirk and hid the pride of his prized student, "Really."

The smile on her face melted to a smug smirk and Baki could already see the teeth of a well suited jackal grinning beneath it.

†

Sasori clucked his tongue at Hinata whose teeth grit and pale features were illuminated, "Hinata," she looked over at him. "Your feet need to be set more firmly but spread apart so your enemy does not know which way you are going. Again," he called to her calmly. She got to her feet and smoothed her muscles into position. Sasori noted that instead of tensing her muscles like she had several times, she forced them to relax and give a sort of a false sense of security.

He nearly smiled at the prospect that she was such a fast learner.

"Come," he commanded and she did, not in a reckless charge as before, but a calm stride that smoothed over into a sprint his way.

His leg swept out and where her head had been, was no longer, she having ducked to aim an open fist at his solar plexus. He moved, but allowed his movements to be quite slow compared to what they would have been had it been a normal training session. Sasori looked down at her eyes and saw them – thin slivers of dragon's claws reaching out before retreating.

The Byakugan she possessed was awakening slowly, albeit, but all the same it was on the peak of its horizon.

He gripped Hinata by her scruff and tossed her easily, not such a harsh throw that she would fall hard, but all the same was flung like a rag doll. She landed on the ground and rolled before she got up, hacking up desert sand. She got into a position once more but Sasori moved, holding up a hand, "That's enough Hinata, much better." He approached her and pat her head gently, fingers running through her hair. "Hinata," he called to her softly and she looked up at him though he only stared ahead into the rising and falling sand dunes. "Tonight is our last night here. There is something to be done and it must be done quickly," he looked down at her with pseudo warm eyes the color of baking red clay.

Hinata's head cocked in confusion, since they had only arrived a couple of weeks ago, but all the same listened and agreed with Sasori. He crouched down in front of her and looked her straight in the eye, "Before we leave, there is something that you must do for me before we leave, understand?" Hinata nodded slowly. He smiled and Hinata's Byakugan wasn't so underdeveloped that she did not recognize that it was a farce of a smile. "There is a man named Akagane Hiroshi and he is one of the councilmen of Suna, do you know what a councilman is?" he asked.

Hinata nodded silently, eyes leaving or blinking from the redhead in front of her. "Good, now, tonight he is going to bring up to the other councilmen to hunt me down immediately due to my past…services."

Hinata bit her lip, knowing enough of politics and shinobi to know what 'hunt down' meant. "S-Sasori-san?" she asked and he waited patiently for her to go on. "D-did you do s-something b-b-bad?"

Without hesitation or regard, he answered, "They believe I have," he saw her eyes widen in panic and nearly smiled again.

"T-That's a l-lie! S-Sasori-san would d-do a-anything b-b-bad!" her voice was an octave louder than her norm while she profusely and exuberantly denied his having to have done bad doings.

Sasori looked at her calmly, petting her head gently and fingers running through her tangles. "How would you know, Hinata?" he asked it not as a challenge of her meager child intellect, nor as proposed innocence – a flat question wanting an answer.

His fingers swept right through her hair and she latched onto his middle, whimpering a bit, "C-c-cause you d-didn't do anything bad," her grip on his middle tightened slightly, "Y-You wouldn't," she whispered.

He neither denied nor agreed on the matter but touched her shoulders gently and shushed her gently when she began to cry quietly.

"Hinata," he called to her softly, tone changing from his normal voice to a more maternally sounding tone to which she responded so _wonderfully_ to. Her head buried further into the dark depths of his cloak and fingers clasped at the fabric with the grip of a tiny talon less hawk. She was listening for her crying had subsided. "Do you want me to be caught and more than likely killed by those he will convince after me?" she shook her head harshly, hug on him tightening. "Then, this is what I need to do, listen carefully Hinata…" his voice had dropped to a mere whisper, mouth near her ear while the wind howled.

And then he whispered murder into her ear.

†

Gaara sat on a chair in the banquet Sunagakure was holding for the politicians and watched his father talk to a man he didn't seem to particularly like. "Kazekage-sama, with all due respect Akasuna no Sasori – no matter how much of a vital aspect he is to Suna, is the most likely murderer of our previous Kazekage, surely you will look in on it!" his father; the Kazekage scowled.

"Akasuna no Sasori has no benefit to reap from the Third's death; he was the most trusted and feared of all our shinobi – he has no reason to have killed the Third."

The man, slightly pudgy and wrinkled with liver spots on his balding head dropped his voice, "But you had all and more benefits to reap from his death so you are a suspect as well."

His father's black eyes flashed, "Are you accusing me of treachery Hiroshi?" he hissed.

Hiroshi shook his head in a sigh, "Kazekage-sama, please understand that Sasori must be brought to justice because the councilmen are also raising questions of his innocence in all of this. After all, the Third was going to banish him from Suna because he had been suspected of using our people as experiments," he hissed. The Kazekage stared at Hiroshi silently.

"Hiroshi, bring it up to the councilmen if you wish, and if there is a unanimous agreement, then we will pursue Sasori, if not, all charges and suspicions are dropped. Understood?" Hiroshi nodded with tightened lips. "Off with you then," he made a shooing gesture.

Yashamaru leaned over to Gaara, "Gaara-sama, it's time we retire from the party." Gaara nodded quietly, watching Hiroshi leave with slumping shoulders before he noticed a small blur of black trail after him. "Gaara-sama, is there something wrong?" Gaara didn't say anything, watching as the two disappeared in the sea of politicians and other anonymous guests.

"No," he responded, shaking his head.

Yashamaru bit his lip and resisted calling Gaara a liar.

His blonde head snapped up when there was a sudden scream near the doorway and guards were rushing, a woman screaming out, one Yashamaru recognized as Hiroshi's mistress, "Akagane-sama is dead!" her makeup was running. The Kazekage stood and walked down from his chair, approaching the other guards at the entryway.

"Stay here, Gaara-sama," he told his charge firmly before running after the Kazekage.

Yashamaru stopped behind his brother in law and several of the other guards who leaned over Hiroshi's prone body. The Kazekage clicked his tongue in something akin to amusement, "Isn't that ironic. About to turn over our best shinobi and here you are now Hiroshi." He bent down to pull the kunai out of Hiroshi's side.

"Should we pursue his killer, Kazekage-sama?" one of the guards spoke up.

"Do you know who his killer was?"

"No, Kazekage-sama."

"Do you know what the killer looked like?"

"…No, Kazekage-sama."

"Then don't bother with stupid questions," he turned to the captain of the guards suddenly, "Send ANBU over to Sasori-san's workshop – bring him in alive or dead." With his toe pointed, he poked at Hiroshi's bulging dead belly, "Now look what you've done, we have to get rid of our finest." He looked at the other guards, "Take care of his body and try to placate the crowd," he said before turning on his heel to his Kazekage tower.

The moon overhead was red, and illuminated the blackened clouds with such an outline.

(Small inscriptions are written in the bottom and you can make out a few of them _– reborn, assassin and dawning of the_… this last word is smudged out and probably holds no meaning, you think before moving on)

-

Ack. Shukaku is sort of an imaginary friend and yet real, but this physical form at the moment is only visible to Gaara and this is how Shukaku first begins to communicate with Gaara – he does not yet control him. It's a very confusing analysis, but hopefully I can explain it better.

Anyway, this chapter was pretty crappy and for that I apologize and hopefully the next one won't be as piss poor. Next chapter will have a time skip and have Naruto and Sasuke, Temari and Kankurou and perhaps others.


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